How Supernova was a real BIG BANG! for Silicon Bali
On top of a successful series of Supernova Bali pitching events, the island’s blockchain scene generated two global hackathon finalists and one Grand Prix Champion: CUBETOPIA.
"Supernova was the event of the year around here. Something unique that has been able to put together the newest and most innovative minds located in Bali with one goal: finding the best projects"
Bruno | Crypto Coach | Panelist at Supernova Events
About the time DC official was publishing the story, the idea of hosting a series of events in Bali - related to Supernova Hackaton - was brewing among a few people in the DFINITY space. The bustling blockchain local community looked ready to be involved in a series of pitching and educational gatherings that could have driven developers and stakeholders' attention toward the IC ecosystem. Surprise, surprise, the Dfinity Guys' encounter in the Islands of Gods wasn’t that random, after all.
"After doing research for our pitch, we realized how the IC provides better solutions to serve our users in ways that no other blockchain does. It was a mind expanding experience"
Arthur | Bestselling Author & Founder of Wisdom City | Co-winner of 1st Bali event
Conceptualized as an educational initiative directed to a selected audience and as a PR stunt related to our hackathon, Supernova Bali quickly became the most important web3 happening for the whole island’s crypto crowd so far. Something in the middle of a crypto-contest and a reality show. The vibe, the quality of the projects, and the caliber of the people involved in those four events were incredible and definitely up to the "Silicon Bali" reputation this place is gaining in the space.
"Thanks to last month’s Supernova Bali events we have brought together so many talents and showed how Bali is a real platform for global web3 projects. Excited to see what’s up next for ICP and Silicon Bali, the IC blockchain is the future of internet"
Josie | Web 3 Marketing Specialist | Panelist at Supernova Bali events
But what happened exactly? What was the connection between these four events and the global hackathon? What were all those posts about? Isn't it so unique that not one but two Bali-based devs made it to the Demo Day, and one of them won (out of 4000 applicants)? And, most importantly, why are there about four hundred people going around in a Supernova t-shirt on some sandy coast of the Indian Ocean? Let’s dive in from the beginning.
On Friday, June 3rd, the first of 4 weekly Supernova pitching events organized by Dfinity took place at T-HUB, a well-renowned crypto coworking space in Canggu (the fanciest digital nomad area in Bali). The vertical of this session was: gaming & metaverse. Everybody was on the blocks: all the local communities well represented, five teams (pitching to secure a slot for an interview with the Dfinity Developers Grants Department), panelists, stakeholders, and a crowded room of crypto enthusiasts. As simple as it might be, the concept was: five teams each week, a 10' pitch for each team followed by 10' Q&A with panelists, some valuable networking moments, and a few well-deserved glasses of wine.
"The community that Dfinity was able to bring together for Supernova really showcased all the values they are about. What a thrill to find out everything that the IC has to offer and all the possibilities for Web 3. It is evident that the trickle down effect from their founder Dominic Williams is present in his team with vision and enthusiasm"
Laura | Founder of HappNow | Winner of 4th event
The atmosphere was magic, with the community immediately realizing something special was happening and bringing the blockchain crowd together on higher ground compared to the already high-level meetups marathon that fills the Bali weekly calendar.
In a back-to-the-future sort of self-realizing plot, one of the two winners of the first night had as well previously applied for the global hackathon gaming track (completely independent from these events) and ended up being one of the five finalists on the 30th of June at Supernova Demo Day! Meet Dimas (Trip_X), a young developer from Bali not new to winning hackathons in his career.
"It was a great once-in-a-lifetime-experience for me as this is my first time to join such an enthusiast crypto community and to be involved in such a superb series of events. Can't wait to see how these projects will be implemented"
Dimas | Founder of Trip_X | Finalist at Supernova Hackaton | Co-winner of 1st Bali event
Week after week, the events got bigger, the crowd more interested, the seats filled more and more in advance, and the groups prepared themselves better. The second week’s vertical was Social.fi, the third Social Impact, and the fourth General Web3. On the 24th of June, the last event counted almost 130 attendants.
"I would like to thank Emilio and the organizers of Supernova Bali events for this amazing experience. So many skilled participants and so many strong projects made it a real competition"
Alex | Founder of SoulEvo | Winner of 3rd Bali event
Meanwhile, far from the Baliverse and all its flip-flop blockchain business, Joey, the future winner of Supernova, was traveling the real world and working on his game, CUBETOPIA. We were in touch every week for a few Bali community updates & crypto-gossip, not to talk about the fact that he had applied for the gaming vertical at the global online hackathon, to be honest. On the other hand, I knew he would have been back in time for the last event, so I invited him to be a panelist and a judge for the final clash at Supernova Bali.
When the events’ dust settled, the week after, the BIG BANG happened. First Joey, then Dimas, passed the news that they were in the final for the gaming track. I was away from Canggu, working from Ubud (another massive web3 hub on the Island) and recovering from two months of back-to-back events when everything suddenly changed. I realized that things were way more serious around here than everybody imagined. Everything we had envisioned was turning into reality, and people started organizing watch parties here and there to support Dimas and Joey at Supernova DemoDay.
The rest is history already. On the 30th of June, CUBETOPIA won first the gaming vertical and then made it to the Grand Prix Title, showing not only their full potential but as well highlighting (together with the guys from Trip_X and all the other teams that competed locally at the events) that “Silicon Bali” is no joke.
"Co-winning Supernova Hackaton and being here at the same time made this incredible achievement even more special. This is simply the place to be for web3"
Joey | Founder of Cubetopia | Co-winner of Supernova Grand Prix | Panelist at Supernova Bali
Adding to Joey's own words, "Silicon Bali" is for real one of the most important blockchain hubs in the world at the moment. We have coworking “cities” here, already operating, and more/bigger coming soon by the hands of worldwide renowned business people. Within our communities - and thanks to a unique “in-person” style of networking - we are able to put together relevant initiatives and connect with many of the top guys in the industry. Communities, projects, talents, infrastructures, lifestyle, hype, the whole mix is present, and see it for yourself, not looking like something that will fade away anytime soon.
I had the double honor of organizing the Bali events and moderating the hackathon chatrooms at Demo Day (from one of those “crypto-cities,” btw). An experience I will cherish for a very long time!
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